Wire-forming machine.



H. W. SMITH.

WIRE FoaMlNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.24. 19|?.

H. W.' SMITH.

WIRE FORMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24. |911.

1,267.132. Patented May 21 v Il 4 SHEETS-SHEE Q Y 05 fm l x I O f l\ i a W Q Q N L/ 1T N OQ Q w H. w. SMITH. WIRE FORMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24.1917.l

Patented May 21,1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

wiluemo ,I I 4 I v v l .1 I l 13 ga? I l 6113014144,

H. w. SMIH.

WIRE FORMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AFR.24. |917. 'T/ v Patented May2l,1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ad@ MM2 .MET

i=. i mi? w. sMIrH, OE PAW'IUOKET, nHODE ISLAND, AssIGNoE To NIOHEESON enr AL COMPANY, OE PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A ooErOEA'rION OE RHODE 'Memisa To all 'whom t may concern:

' Be it known that I, HARRY W. SMITH, a

4 v citizen of the United States, and resident the path -of movement` ofsaid' formers,

the machine, and means for fee ing wire to these formers and severing the wire intoshort lengths; and also to provid'eimeans for supporting individual pieces of work in whereby the fornicrs are caused to bend the cut lengths of wire about the work. Y

A vfurther object Off the invention is to provide a magazine in which the work is f stored, vand means operated by the action -of the machine lfor feeding the pieces of work into position to have the wire bentI and formed about'the same.

The .work hereinillustrated is in the form of la short post having a' reduced neck portion around which is rined a ringl of wire by the vaction of the f machiiie, which ring in this particularcase forms a spring lock on the post, but work of any suitable shape or. size may be fed to the machine and supplied with pieces of wire bent into the desired formby wire forming mechanism.

With these and other objects in view, the

invention consistsof certain novel features of construction, as will be moreA fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. Y

'\In the accompanyingdrawings: Figure'1- is a plan view of the machine. F1 L 2 represents a section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1 on a larger scale, some parts being omitted and other parts being broken away to better illustrate the wire forming and cutting mechanism.

Fig. 3- is a front view of thel work feeding mechanism showing the rest bar4 as positioning the work to have the wire bent about its neck portion.

Fig. 4 is the same as Fig. 3 but with the rest bar withdrawn to permit the finished work to drop away by gravity, and also showing the next adjacent piece 'of Speoication of Letters Patent.

bar is repositioned to receive it.

piece is work as-retained in position until the rest Fig. 5 isa top view of the lwork feed mechanism.

Fig. 6- is a sectional plan view on line 6 6 of Fig. 2 illustrating the operation of thevwire formers and showing the wire as having been fed into position to be bent.

Fig. 7- shows the severed piece of wire as bent into a U-shape in one of the formers. Fig. 8 shows the U shaped wire as having been carried. forward to engage the neck of the work. i v

Fig. 9 shows the wire as bent into a ring formed about the neck ofthe work.

` Fig. i0- is a detail showing one form of work to which the wire may be attached by -iny wire bending and attaching machine. The main bed or table 30 of the machine' is provided with suitable standards, and has journaled bearings 31` for three shafts 32, 33 and 34. The shaft32 is provided with fast and loose pulleys 35 and 36, the fast `pulley having a crank or handle37 to enable the machine to be Operated by hand 'when desired. The shafts are geared `together by miter gears 38 and 39 to run in unison. from the roll 40 and is -fed forward intermittently by action of the cam 41 on shaft 34 through the arm 42 through the suitable feed blocks 43, the wire a being fed through the guide 44 illustrated in Fig. 6 to abut against the stop 45 which determines the length to be cut. After the wire has been thus fed by action of the feeder the same is severed at the point 46 in Fig. 6 by the cut-A ter 47 see Fig. 2, which cutter is pivoted at 48 and is actuated by the inward movement of lever 49 by contact of cam 50 with roll 51, which causes pin 52 to ride inward under the beveled end 53- of this cutter` lever, a

spring 54 returning the lever after action. Rigidly secured to or integral with the wall members cheek pieces`58 having grooves 59 opposite each other as shown in Fig. 6. After the length of wire has been cut off and occupies the position shown vin Fig. 6 the severed the outer ends of the grooves 59 by the binding pin 60, whichconstitutes the outer end Patented May. 21, 1918.

Application ined April a4, 1.9i?. serial No. 164,128.

t es

The wire ais fed to the machine 55 and 56 of the block 5'( are two.

bent into U-form and carried into of an arm rigidly secured to a rock shaft 61,

see Fig. 2, said rock shaft has also secured to it a bfurcated arm 62,1:he slot or recess of from the disk said' arm being engaged by a pin 63 in the slide bar 64. The other'end of this bar carries a roll 65 which engages a cam groove 66 formed in one side of the disk 70 which is secured to shaft v34 so that as said shaft rotates the bending pin 60 may be carried from the position indicated in Fig. 6 to the position 'indicated in Fig. 7 and then re-v turned. Wheny the parts are 1n position shown in Fig. 7 the curved portion of the wire is earried'into a groove 71 in the end of the pusher or 'front' former 72, which is rigidly secured to or lintegral with the slide 73 mounted to reciprocate in a suitable ide that is formed in one of the fixed b ocks, the outer end ofthis slide 73 having a roll 74, which'engages va cam groove 75 in the Adisk 7 5? carried by shaft 34.

When the wire is pushed by the feed device through the bushing 44 and is cut off, the severed length is carried down behind to pins 76, which-rise from the upper face of the bifurcated slide 77 see Figs. 2 and 6. When the wire is irst cut olf the slide 77 is lin its lower position, which position is somewhat exaggerated in Fig. 2, and then the said slide 77 is lifted to carry the wire 'to the horizontal plane of the grooves 59 of the cheek pieces 58',l said slide 77 is moved in .a suitable guideway that is-in the block 57 and the slide is lcut out as at 78 to receive the cross pieces 79 whichare secured to said block 57. JThe inner faces of the two inner arms or members of the slide 77 near their upper ends, are provided with positioning grooves 80 which are adapted to register f with the grooves 59 when the slide 77 is in its uppermost position, the purpose-of said l grooves being presently explained.

The slide 77 is provided with a lateraly pin 81 which is engaged by the slotted end of lever 82 pivoted at 83 and having a roll 84 which is engaged by a cam 85 vprojecting 70. A spring 86 is suitably connected to this lever 82 to return the same to normal after having been actuated by cam 85. l

After the cut piece 'of wire has been I ositioned as shown in Fig. 7, the timing o the A parts of themachine is lsuch that the bending pin next swings outwardly to position so that its upper end is below the horizontal plane of the grooves 80, this outerand lower position ofthe pin 60 being best indicated in Fig. 2. The slide 7 3 is then actuated so that the pusher or front' former 472 acts upon the U-shape piece of wire to slide it along and out of the grooves59 into the grooves 80 in the inner faces of the two arms of the verticalslide 77, the U shape piece of wire being thus transferred tothe yposition shown in Fig. 8, the two legs of the Usbaped piece` of wire straddle the OSI: or neck of the work 87, presently descri ed,` and reaching the ends of the curved horizontal groove 88 formed in the'front end of i the back former 89, which at this time, has been advanced from the position shown in Figs.. 6 and 7 to the position shownin Fig. 8.

Thls back former 89 is carried by a Vslide 90, see Fig. 2, mounted in a guide-way therefor inthe upper end of a rigid standard or post 91. The rear end ofv this slide extends through the bearing 92 and is provided with an adJustable head 93 on its outer end arranged to contact with thecam '94 fixed to Shaft l During the movement of the parts from the position indicated in Fig. 7 to that in- Y longitudinally slidable bar 100 is adapted to extend to reach into the tube and engage the work to hold the same, for thepurpose presently described. This, bar is arranged to slide in a groove formed on the face of the angle plate and is normally pressed in,y ward by Vmeans ofthe spring 101. This bar is provided with a downwardly extendingi nger 102.'

In orderA to support the work in line of action of the formers a longitudinally slidable'rest bar 103has its inner end `104 arranged to extend beneath the work, see Fig.

3, its body portionbeing slidably mounted 1n the bearing 104 and its outer end is provided witha roll 105 resting against the operatmg cam 106 mounted on the sha-ft 33. -The roll is normally held back against the Fig. 5. A 1101@ 99 is formed in the Side wan -of this" tube through whichthe end of a cam under tension of the spring 107. The

forward end of this bar 4is'providedwith an angular notch 108 against whichjthe in- .115.. this lever being pivoted at 111 to thel angle Wardly turnedend 109 of the lever 110 rests,

plate '96. The upper end 112 ofthis lever engages the finger 102, whereby when the rest bar is carried forward by action of the cam 106 beneath the work,vthe lever 110 withdraws the retaining bar from engagement with the work, permitting thework to be fed down by gravity until the loweru most piece rests upon the end of the bar,

lwhich positions the neck portionl 113' of the work in alinement to have the ring 94 bent around it. As soon as the operation is completed this rest is allowed by the cam to be withdrawn under action of spring 107, which withdrawing action ring-forming.

permits the retaining bar to simultaneously move inward and grip the work piece next above and retain it and the others resting upon it until the lowermost and finished work drops away by gravity through the opening 114 in the bed plate 30.

In some cases, it is `found desirable to provide a magazine for carrying large quantities of the work pieces so that the rapidly running machine may be fed continuously. rIo accomplish this, I have provided an auxiliary tube 115, which may be of any desired length, the same being enlarged on its lower end 116 to fit over the short tubing 95 and which long tubing member is filled with the work and then attached in position to the short tubing 95 and when this magazine tube has been emptied it may be removed and a duplicate loading tube positioned to take its place. In this way the continuity of operating the machine may be undisturbed.

I have shown and described the work piece as being in the form of a short cylindrical member or post but the work to which the bending wire is applied may be of any suitable shape and any suitable means may be provided for supplying andV positioning this work relative to the ring-forming mechansm for the purpose of applying the rings thereto.

I have illustrated one means whereby my invention may be carried out, but I dov not wish to limit myself to this specific construction as various changes in shape and form of the several features may be necessary. I, therefore, desire it to be understood,

that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is clearly susceptible, the invention being defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described,

wire formers, means for feeding wire to said formers and severing the same into lengths, means for supporting individual pieces of the work in the path of movement of said formers, means whereby said formers are caused to bend the cut length about the work, means for withdrawing said supporting means to permit the work to be discharged, and means for feeding a fresh piece of work to be operated upon.

2. In a machine of the character described,

wire formers, means for feeding wire to said formers and severing the same into lengths,

a -magazine for supplying the work, means' for supporting each individual piece of the work in the path of movement of said formers, means whereby said formers are caused to bend the cut length about the work,

means for withdrawing the supportI fromthe nishedwork permitting it to be discharged, and means for feeding a fresh piece of work from the magazine to be operated upon.

3. In a machine of the character described,

wire formers, means for feeding wire to said formers and severing the same into lengths,

.a magazine for supplying the Work, a rest 

